The Meibon are losing, dying. Townsmen start to back up to get a new position, fire more arrows into the Meibon, killing and wounding more. Then they attempt to back up again, near the edge of the tree line, when from behind them appears the menacing and terrifying Lord of the Forest, he was waiting for them to come to him; he bites down on one of Hidgken’s guards, severing him clean into two pieces with a bone crunching snap, showering the portly merchant in blood and guts. His other guard screams a war-cry as he fires an arrow at it, but it barely penetrates the thick skin of the super predator, as Hidgken slips away into the forest, running faster than one might think such a portly man could.
Koronos moves deftly through the fray to close the gap between him and his new enemy; Stromhynd. The Kazarian closes the distance just in time, before Stromhynd can bring his sword down on Soulseeker’s neck to deliver a coup de grâce. With a Kazarian war cry, the magnificent Sword of the First in his strong, able hands knocks the attack aside before it can fall on its target as yellow lightning arcs from the blade.
Stromhynd wastes no time, doing his signature knife-in-the-belly trick on the furious Kazarian with his other hand, however, Koronos is a highly trained warrior and sees it coming, but not fast enough, the knife finds his belly, but only a short bit of blade pierces its target, not enough to do any serious damage.
By now, the Lord of the Forest has completely shattered the line of bowmen, half run for their lives, the other half remain and try to bring the giant down, to little avail; it tears through the men like wheat being sown at harvest. They scream and yell in terror as it systematically shreds them, scattering body parts, blood and guts on the dirty ground.
One mighty blow after another is wielded between the Kazarian and the brutal human warrior. Stromhynd fights in an unconventional style with a longsword in one hand, and long dagger in the other, and he’s fast; this makes him a dangerous opponent. However, Stromhynd’s fights usually don’t last very long because he kills his opponents quickly. He's not accustomed to fighting a highly trained opponent, he finds it hard to believe how strong and fast the Kazarian is, and he feels his fear begin to rise again.
Some nearby Meibon gather on the periphery, watching, captivated and disturbed by the ferocity and skill of the two men engaged in deadly combat; they have never seen anything like it, or even heard of anything like the spectacle before them.
It doesn’t take long for Koronos to observe his patterns in his offensive and defensive tactics, he finds the hole. With his elbow, he smashes the opponent in the mouth, making him stumble back and dazed for just a tiny moment. It’s the last moment Stromhynd will ever have as Koronos brings his sword in an upward, sideways motion. The blow comes lightning fast, cutting through the studded leather armor and flesh indiscriminately, and splits his opponent from hip to shoulder as blood sprays and gushes from the gaping wound, followed immediately by his internal organs, spilling out onto the cold ground. Stromhynd stands with his arms out holding his weapons, the look of total shock on his face. He looks up at the sky one last time, falls back on the ground, blood gurgles out of his mouth as he tries to speak. In mere moments the spark of life leaves him, and his dead eyes stare blankly into the sky as blood slowly stains the patch of snow beneath his lifeless body. White-ravens make their distinct baritone calls, echoing hauntingly through the vast forest. It’s believed they carry the souls of the fallen in battle to the other side.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
He died alone in the snow, but he died in battle and his religion believes that if you die in battle, you will feast in the great halls of your ancestors for all eternity; perhaps he shall. From the tree line, a few of his men take one last cowardly look back, before fleeing into the looming trees, trying to make their way to the bay to get to their rowboats; they came to fight Meibon, not a giant forest beast.
The Meibon then turn to see the mighty and terrifying Lord of the Forest, looking at them from the tree line. Many of their people have been eaten over the years by him or his kind when they went into the lowlands looking for resources. It has arrows stuck in its neck and face, Koronos walks over to it, motions with his hand to lower its enormous head down. With its head lowered to within the reach of Koronos so he can pull the arrows out. No words are exchanged, not even through the Bond. Once all the arrows are pulled free, the Lord of the Forest walks off into the trees without looking back. Gobsmacked, the Meibon look on as if they just witnessed a man interact with a deity. Then they snap out of their awe and begin to tend the wounded Meibon.
Sensing Shelove through the Bond and that she’s back on her feet, the giant black pantera ambled over to Soulseeker, she has arrows stuck in her still. Koronos runs over to her, where Soulseeker is lying, to his relief the Meibon chief is still breathing because he has great strength and fortitude. The wound would have killed any normal man or Meibon, but he’s Everliving and therefore much harder to kill.
“He may yet live” Koronos says to Shelove as he takes a closer look at the arrows protruding from her furry hide.
Four of the Meibon carry their wounded chief gently back to the village as Koronos carefully removes the arrows from Shelove, if it hurts, she makes no signs that it does as each one is removed, she doesn’t even tense or wince. She makes no attempt to communicate using the Bond, so he doesn’t press the issue, she’s obviously lost in thought about the fight, and how she nearly died. He gently pets her, nonetheless. He finally says to her, “you should rest and heal, I’ll look for the body of that foolish Hidgken, to see if he’s dead or hurt, preferably the former.”
Communicating with the Bond, she simply says, “yes.” Turning from him, she slowly follows the Meibon back to the village with a slight limp in her stride. She needs rest.
After a quick look around, Koronos doesn’t find the body of Hidgken amongst the fallen, disappointed, but not surprised, he says to himself, “this isn’t over yet, one more needs to die, and any man that tries to stop me.”